Legal Roll Tacks?

A roll tack is legal if
  • You come out of it the same speed you entered the roll tack.
  • You don't heel to windward after the roll tack
  • And the boom doesn't swing past the center line (towards you)
 
Yeah, I understand that, but wouldnt this be considered illegal propulsion? Ooching on a wave is iffy, so this is kinda blatantly obvious... Right?
 
Well the jury in Olympic event usually only class it as Ooching if you do more than one "ooch."
Whereas if he has just come out of a roll tack and does it once, I'm sure it would be ignored, but if he repeats it almost every tack; he would (or perhaps he should) be penalised for illegal propulsion.
If I was being a picky judge, I would have penalised him for the speed out of the tack issue... AND the ooching during the tack.
 
This question gets hairy.
First of all, the video is from a (US) collegiate sailing event. These events often have their own rules regarding rolling the boat and ooching. I believe that the SIs for the event would give us info about applicable modifications to Rule 42, but we don't have those SIs. Therefore, lets ask the question whether Mr Strammer was ooching if this were a 'regular' (non-collegiate) event.

Ooching relates to moving your body forward (Rule 42.2 (c)), but Mr Strammer is actually moving backwards with a twist after getting on the other side....
 
My understanding is the judges look for repeated back and forth movement of the mast tip. Granted he uses a lot of body english, but the mast movement is very fluid and smooth. The boat comes level and just stops. No rocking, not a hint of windward heel. Obviously a very practiced, precise move, but I would say legal.
 
it should be legal because he isn't coming out of the tack faster than he went in, the way he twists on his hike helps the boat head up without using the tiller, if you watch he comes out a little low in his tack before the roll and completes his tack on line

when this would be illegal is if you did it in 0-2kts of breeze and you were using it to propel the boat by continuously roll tacking,
 
Whilst using a lot of body torque, everything he is doing is completely legal with respect to the actual tack IMO. He's not coming out of the tacks faster, he's not oching the boat coming out of the tack, the motion is fluid and the mast isn't passing through the centre line.

Post tack, he may be pumping the sail using body movements, but the video doesn't focus long enough to clearly determine this.
 
I don't see the first thing that could be considered illegal with that his tacking. However, I could see him getting a back injury down the road.........
 
One thing I've often wondered; is there any difference in the benefit whether you make a rapid roll and recovery, or if you carry it out more slowly??
 
Faster is better. The motion of your foils coming down create forward thrust. Slower, means less thrust. BTW, after watching hrs of video of olympic sailors at their camp nobody is doing that body twist motion s seen in the video.....When this guy starts winning some open national level laser events that style might pick up some traction, but it until then all I see is future back pain. Not being a hater, just sayin..........
 
Stephen_Green said:
One thing I've often wondered; is there any difference in the benefit whether you make a rapid roll and recovery, or if you carry it out more slowly??
Click to expand...

Too rapid and all you do is shake the wind out of the sail and drop the boat down like it's hit a wave. Long and smooth is the go as you maintain flow across the sail and smoothly change the flow of water across the hull.
 
AlanD said:
Too rapid and all you do is shake the wind out of the sail and drop the boat down like it's hit a wave. Long and smooth is the go as you maintain flow across the sail and smoothly change the flow of water across the hull.
Click to expand...

In light breeze that is true. In anything over 7-8 knots it's really hard to bring it down too fast.
 
Rob B said:
In light breeze that is true. In anything over 7-8 knots it's really hard to bring it down too fast.
Click to expand...
Not trying to change the subject... But in what breezed do you guys not focus on roll tacking, and just tacking? For me its about 12-15...
 
Woah thats a interesting tack... I kinda admire his form, he seems to take full advantage of getting he mast as low as he can. I doesn't look to be illegal to my eye as he does not get any significant boost easily seen.
 
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